Were having the Fall Fishermans Festival at Fishermans Terminal here in Seattle tomorrow and of course we at GoodFood World are going to cover it but Id rather be with the folks in Chase B.C. celebrating the Salmon because thats really what it is all about. Our real life-blood here in the Northwest is not reflected in the 50-story plus glass and steel monoliths we build as an edifice to airplanes, computer software and agricultural imports (grain, alfalfa, etc.) -- thats comparatively short lived (less than 100 years old and not likely to last another 100). Its is with wild salmon and an intrinsic (indigenous) human culture that goes back at least 10,00 years that holds use together in a web of life so intricate and at once adaptable, it withstood the Ice Age. Wild salmon is without question the heart and soul of our region. But newcomers arent told that and most of the rest of the US population cant relate or even care having fallen into a fish food culture that values the greasy breading and spicy sauce over the fish as a culinary fix. Ironically, to keep our wild salmon aline in its natural fishery and to sustain ourselves weve got to eat it. Unfortunately, we dont! First, we dont eat as much highly nutritious sea food as we should overall even though we live right on the water (everywhere). Instead, we eat hamburger, or we eat the lower grade factory farmed (soon to be genetically enhanced) salmon hauled in and flooding our markets because its cheaper and because its dyed and even flavored, and because we may even think we are saving Nature. Save Nature by eating factory food? Thats really a crock of propaganda real estate people want us to believe as they develop our shore-lands -- as the prices accelerate to buyers of seaside-estates from everywhere (Asia, India, etc.). Meanwhile, industry and municipalities as well as every other conveyance imaginable (giant freighters, cruisers, pleasure craft, etc.) continue to dump raw sewerage and toxics into our bays and estuaries polluting (really killing) our fisheries. Because Salmon are anadromous, meaning they divide their lives between freshwater and the ocean -- they are born in freshwater, mature at sea and return to their natal streams to spawn a new generation so that the protection of natural watersheds is also vital (but they are now being settled, lumbered, mined, you name it). The big business idea (corporate of course) is that if we eat the factory fish (really very inferior), we dont need any of the natural salmon support base and can then use it more economically for other things. Get it, we dont need any of what weve come to associate with our Northwest: not the wild fish, not their relatives, the indigenous Northwest people, not the pristine upper meadows, riverine forests and grassed estuaries, not the best managed fishery left in the world, and not the small commercial fisherman who sustain it. We can become just like everywhere else. Or not quite, our nature will become nothing more than real estate amenities for the wealthy. And where does the remaining high-end wild fish go? Well, of course its exported by the money-men to be sold to the highest bidder in markets like Japan where a customer will pay $50 for a salmon stake. Incidentally -- Notice, thats what is happening with all our food products in the US. The best of the best is being exported and Americans are eating whats left and dont know the difference. Meanwhile, the environment is rapidly going even further to hell! What to do? Well, of course, eat more wild fish. And even the Governor of Washington has recently smartened up and agrees, we need to eat more wild fish. His good idea is to restore the food we get from the ocean as our own most promising food security in the face of climate change. The money to clean up Puget Sound along with all the other vital waterways must come from restoring a sustainable market for our local fish and sea food. The idea is of course against the grain of current logic. The US President isnt much on indigenous fish or people, or the environment for that matter, and he sees the base of our world power especially in energy, in exports right now. But -- We got to change the gross inequity in exports if we are going to survive Climate Change. Plus a lot of us living in the Northwest believe protecting our wild salmon is the right thing to do -- even a Spiritual Obligation. We are on the subject at our GoodFood World Magazine. Well at Fishermens Terminal tomorrow. Therefore, if you are anywhere in the region, I hope you will connect with a salmon celebration -- a Convergence! And if youre at the Fishermans Festival here in Seattle, maybe youll see is. Please stop and talk.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 17:50:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015